


Truths

by crestedhearts (orphan_account)



Series: Red Strings (Sephiroth) [3]
Category: Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:48:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24356830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/crestedhearts
Summary: In which Cloud provides you the identity of your soulmate indirectly, even though you've already been acquainted with him before, and tells you to stay away from him.It's never that easy.
Relationships: Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII)/Reader
Series: Red Strings (Sephiroth) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757899
Comments: 20
Kudos: 93





	Truths

IT WASN'T EASY, adjusting to seeing things when previously all you saw was darkness. Your home, the building attached to the tea shop, was not as you had envisioned it in your head all these years. It was snug, cozy, and invited warmth that you had somehow been oblivious to, that soothed your soul to a calm serenity.

For the first few days, you directly avoided looking at your hands and heart, leaving things that required them to other people and praying that you hadn't missed your chance a thousand times over already. There were times where your vision did leave you and stutter out into darkness once again, but it was always repetitive and during the same time of day; you charted them on a calendar to be able to work around them. It wad always at the same time and never deviated, usually in spans of thirty minutes every couple of hours.

When Cloud visited you one morning, wanting to try out the green tea that Tifa suggested would ease his indigestion from years of SOLDIER rations, he listened to your mindless blubbering, almost bewildered as you met his gaze head on and seemed to be able to see him.

"Here you go," you said, placing the tea cup in front of him. He seemed almost out of place in your little shop, blending in just enough to not seem suspicious. "The tea was freshly ground today. I added some anti-inflammatory herbs just to make sure your stomach feels a little better."

Cloud blinked up at you, green-blue eyes wide. He was very pretty, you had come to notice, with an interesting facial structure not unlike that of a doll's. His hair was somewhat different, spiky and fluffy, but you had no room to judge since your eyes were still gray.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." He withdrew a fifteen gil and handed it to you. "Is that enough?"

You grinned and gave him back five gil, pocketing the ten in your apron. "You overcounted a bit, that's all. Would you like a matcha cake to go with your tea?"

"No thank you. I don't really like sweets."

"You really are odd, aren't you?" You laughed and left him to finish his tea, cleaning up the crumbs and napkins your other patrons had left for you to wipe up. There were some tips that you found pinned to the table under the napkins and as you reached over to sweep the gil into your hands, you directly looked at the very thing you had been avoiding for nearly two weeks: the strings.

Not a pale pink or even a crimson red that meant you had yet to find your soulmate, they glittered a bright gold, interwoven with sections of silver and purple that made quite the flattering combination. The colors meant different things, of course, but you didn't own the color book that everyone else had because knowing those colors had been an impossibility for you.

While Cloud was busy drinking his tea and making faces at it, but soldiering on anyways, you gently touched the strings, tugged at them the way you would a stray thread. They vibrated and sung like violin chords, settled, and stilled. You watched with bated breath as those threads began vibrating again, singing a different tune, but not because you did it; someone else, the person who was your soulmate, was doing it.

You swallowed the disappointment and returned to cleaning up, giving Cloud his receipt when he finished his tea. As you were laughing at some dry humored tea joke he had given you, mostly to the expense of the green powder, your vision went completely black. You were blind, again, and Cloud noticed.

"[Name]?" He questioned, placing a hesitant hand on your shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Oh. Sorry. This… happens, sometimes." You reached up and wiped your eyes, feeling them water at the lack of blinking. "It's alright. I expected this to happen."

"How often does this happen? Does it bother you?" Cloud pressed gently. You had gotten to be good friends over the past month or so, and you trusted him as much as you would Aerith. It was only concern that kept him there. "Can you function?"

"Of course." You fiddled with your apron, then reached up and patted his hand. "It's okay. It's only for thirty minutes every three hours or so."

That comment meant nothing to you, but it clearly meant something to Cloud. He stiffened for a moment, fingers tightening on your shoulder, as he asked,"Are you sure your sight isn't because your soulmate is lending you their sight?"

Your brain came to a harsh, skidding stop. "What?"

"It's common enough among SOLDIERs." Cloud paused and ushered you to sit down. When you were comfortable, he continued,"I lend my sight to Tifa when we're in battle. It never lasts very long, or at all, but those brief instances she can see as vividly as I do."

"But I can see all the time," you whispered. "Other than the hour and thirty minutes where my vision blacks out."

"Right. Which means your soulmate is a far more powerful SOLDIER than I am to be able to maintain it for that long." Cloud cleared his throat. "If they haven't told you already, then there's probably a good reason why."

"I guess so." It didn't sit well with you, that your soul mate was lending you their vision nearly all day. Those thirty minutes had to be while they took naps. "You're ex-SOLDIER, right? It's a dangerous job, I suppose, to have."

"Yeah. I wouldn't look too deeply into it. It's safer to maintain distance. That guy, Hojo, likes to test soulmate bonds in… I won't say how. If you have any questions, you can call Tifa. I'm sure she'll be happy to help you out."

"Oh, no, that's alright." You sighed and fingered the black feathers on your hip when a bolt of realization hit you. "Cloud? Can I ask you something? It's okay if you can't tell me."

"Sure."

"Do you know a SOLDIER named Sephiroth?"

You felt his aura plunge down to negative temperatures. It happened so quickly that your own aura felt the need to take a defensive stance, bristling. Sephiroth's name did not seem like a nice topic for Cloud.

"Where did you hear that name?" He asked, strained.

You didn't want to tell him. Some part of you told you not to, that whatever you said wouldn't help you in the long run. You valued Cloud's friendship, so you bullshitted your way out of it. You were, thankfully, still blind at the moment, and that helped push your lie to seem genuine.

"There were some Turks here the other day." Not a lie. One of them had flirted with you, which had been odd. "They kept talking about a SOLDIER named Sephiroth." A half-lie. "I was just wondering if you knew anything about it."

"...Oh." Cloud's aura seemed to calm as he digested your explanation, but it wasn't any less aggressive. "Yeah. I do. He's dangerous, [Name]. If you ever see him, run the other way."

It was far, far too late for that.

"Okay, but…" Gaia, you were lying out of your ass today. "What does he look like? I wouldn't even know good from bad."

You had to be certain; had to know for sure if that man was the same one you knew. It had to be, because who had such an odd name like Sephiroth?

"I forget you've been blind most of your life." Cloud sighed and leaned back in his chair. "He has eyes like mine, but his pupils are like a cat's. He has long silver hair. Taller than I am. Wields a long katana. You'll know if you see him."

"Oh. Okay. I'll remember that." Eager to change the subject, you asked,"How's your stomach? Is it better?"

Cloud hummed, distracted. "Yeah. It's better. Thanks, by the way, for the tea."

"No problem."

After Cloud left, your sight came back little by little, and you flipped the open sign to closed. There was no way you were going to be able to work today with your mind running miles a minute.

Cloud hadn't quite made the connection yet, but you certainly had. Sephiroth was your soulmate. He had to be. You hadn't met another SOLDIER besides Cloud, and his aura was powerful enough for you to feel emotions through. All of this started with Sephiroth and ended with him.

So why did you feel like it was a bad thing?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having such fun writing this! I hope you guys enjoy it as well! ♡ Did I mention this is quite the slow burn series? No? Well, it is, so I hope you're okay with that.
> 
> Also, who would you all like to see next in the soulmate au? Rufus, Aerith, Zack, Genesis, etcetera. And what type of au? The red strings of fate, the timer, the one where you see in black and white all your life until you meet your soulmate, or where words are written on your skin that only you can see? Let me know! :)


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